Taiwan. I wanted to try on a pair of shoes. The sales person was gone a long time. We asked what happened to her. They didn’t have my size, so she went to all the other shoe stores in on the block checking if they had my size. Incredible customer service. Quite unreal to a USA native.

Last autumn my parter and I pulled up to a free camping area in Colorada ran buy the USDA. At some point we heard a lot of sheep bleeting and stepped outside to see 5 people and 3 dogs hearding a large flock of sheep down a mountain across the highway. We grabbed a few beers and a joint and spent the next 4 hours outside watching these sheep get rounded up into a pen in the Campground we were at. This was especially fun because we have a hearding dog of our own and watching these working dogs control hundreds of sheep with minimal input from the sheppards was pretty incredible. Our dog sat and watched with us and was absolutely enamored by the sheep. After the sheep were all penned he was able to go over and say hi to the other dogs. That evening we were on our final bathroom walk of the evening when we got approached by a great perinaise who gave us a check out and then walked back to the pen fence and layed back down. What a good guard dog.

My husband and I went to Noord Holland in the Netherlands last year. We had a room in a private house. The owner was this nice old couple. They helped us rent bikes at a local bike shop and we just went everywhere on bike. Every day an hour or two just following the coastline, nothing but the sea, the shore and the sails of the boats in the distance.

We also went to a hat museum. It was a private museum - basically an old woman who’se been collecting and making hats her entire life. A whole room full of hats from all over the world and she could tell you all about them, how they are made, the cultural signifance etc. Her husband made us tea while we sat there and listened.

Going around Vancouver looking for the filming locations from my favourite TV show. Trying to find all the angles to match screenshots from the show. I know it’s a bit silly but that TV show inspired me to get into the career I’ve worked in for the last decade and is a fond memory of growing up. Vancouver is such a nice place, and if I had the money I’d consider moving there.

A couple trip highlights I have are drinking with friends watching the sun set on the Arabian Sea in Goa, and hiking around the Grand Canyon with my grandparents after driving across the US with a sibling to get there

Banging locals

Hiking the Grand Canyon was nice. Tiring, but nice.

Went to Japan in 2023 with my family it was about 15 of us. For 2 days I let everyone go ahead and I was just alone in Japan I didn’t do anything crazy just hit up a few stores, wandered around harajuku and then some shrines. Grabbed breakfast lunch and dinner alone. Greatest adventure I ever had

Had an interesting conversation with a Syrian when flying from Kuwait to Jordan. I didn’t know Arabic; he didn’t know English. We used Google Translate to talk.

I remember sitting in the bar of the Post Hotel, Lake Louise Village with a glass of Dalwhinnie, listening to the pianist play the Jurassic Park theme just to see if anyone would recognise it. I was overwhelmed by the realisation that I was living one of my dreams to visit Western Canada, one of the most beautiful places on Earth. I admit I cried.

Also, what a wonderful hotel! I’d recommend it in a heartbeat.

getting scammed in Manila

Flying the Millennium Falcon in Disneyland.

Toss up between saying BVI a year after Irma, it was so quiet and empty. We spent the day on the beach at Bitter End (its absolutely amazing now its reopened) and if you know that beach its never empty except we had it to ourselves. Went to a bar in Little Bay and just spent the day hanging out with the owner, only ones there, told to help ourselves to beer from the fridge and had dinner with them. BVI is never that quiet during main season, its usually busy to packed.

Other one is Antigua during COVID, quiet beyond belief. Restaurants only allowed to do take out, so they would bring you the meals to your boat. Had a BBQ of the best steak and lobster on the main beach at Barbuda cooked just for us. Last night they opened up restaurants for dine in, only customers at this fancy Mexican fusion restaurant on the beach. They were so happy to have people back, ended up sharing the head chefs bottle of (very expensive) wine as we chatted at the end of the meal.

Most of my favorite holiday stories are when we have gone somewhere and its empty of tourists and just pretty quiet overall.

I jave a picture of me standing under Delicate Arch in Utah. I look so tiny next to that huge arch.

Arriving to Galapagos islands, in just 2-3 blocks that we walked we got to see so much life! Not the giant tortoises though. But lizards, birds, and even some underwater sea life. A local fishermen was emptying his net, taking out some giant lobsters. It was the first time I saw these animals, apparently the usual are rather small in comparison and taste better, but in the ocean they can grow A LOT. These were easily the size of a shepherd’s dog…

PS. Same trip, another experience(s) were snorkeling or diving :) if you love nature, I recommend going there…